The Present You's Daydreams
by Kalcifier
Summary: Yosuke's been doing magical girl temp work for about a month, and it's pretty much the best thing that's ever happened to him, even if it does mean having a weird bear roommate. Then Souji invites him to a party, and Yosuke has to face something even scarier than magical enemies: social interaction.


This is a sequel to my last fic, My Fantasies from Long Ago. Like that fic, it is inspired by art posted by the wonderful kawaii-bunny-mel on tumblr. Unlike that fic, it is not directly based on a Bee and Puppycat episode. I hope you enjoy it nonetheless.

* * *

"Come on, Yosuke! You can do it!"

Yosuke gritted his teeth. The last few months had given him plenty of practice with concentrating while Teddie yelled in his ear, but that didn't make it any more pleasant. He had a duty, though, and he was determined to see it through.

He reached into the well of power that had been growing since he'd first begun to travel between dimensions. "Go, Jiraiya!"

There was a moment of pure joy as his Persona manifested above him. This was what he'd been looking for for so long, everything he'd hoped he could one day become. A strong wind gusted past him.

The branches above him shook. A single fruit fell from them, hitting the ground with a satisfying thud.

Immediately, Yosuke was swarmed by ghosts. He'd be concerned if any of them were taller than his shins. "Thank you, brave hero!" they chorused.

One made a herculean show of effort and floated up to the height of Yosuke's chest. "With the apple of discord, we can finally return to our former glory. We are forever in your debt."

Yosuke shrugged. "Hey, don't sweat it. I'm just glad I could help."

"Does that mean I can have your share of the reward?" Teddie batted his eyelashes in a way that might have been cute in a cartoon. In reality, he looked like there was something caught in his eye.

"Of course not, that was obviously just a cool line," Yosuke hissed. He cleared his throat. "Well, unless you guys need anything else…"

The first ghost had fallen to the ground l, winded, and a new one rose up to take its place. "We couldn't possibly ask any more of you," this one said.

"If you say so," Yosuke said. "Well, it was nice meeting you."

"Bearwell!" Teddie added.

They stepped through the glowing doorway that would take them back to Yosuke's apartment. Neither of them saw when a ghost took a bite from the apple and transformed into a towering black figure with a lantern for a head. They didn't hear the mad cackles as the other ghosts surged forward.

What they did see was Yosuke's couch as they fell towards it. They landed in a layer of pillows, a precaution Yosuke had taken since the day he'd forgotten to move his guitar before teleporting away. He'd made Teddie send them on another job immediately so he could buy a replacement, but he was finding splinters in his cushions for days.

This time, though, everything was fine. Yosuke had grown as a person since those days.

The payment came through not long after they did, bouncing off Teddie's head to land on the floor. Teddie took half and handed the rest to Yosuke.

Yosuke looked at him dubiously. "Come on, you didn't even do anything," he said. "You definitely don't deserve that much.

"Oh yeah? All you did was get an apple out of a tree." Teddie hunched over his share as if Yosuke was going to try to steal it. It was a good call, honestly.

"Yeah, but I used my Persona to do it. You know how tired that makes me."

"And I used my magic and general adorableness to get the job in the first place," Teddie said. "You couldn't have done anything without me."

Yosuke grumbled a little more, but as rare as it was for him to admit it, Teddie had a point. It wasn't like he was running low on cash anyway. He was even starting to build up some savings, something he'd never managed at Junes.

He was putting the money away when his phone buzzed. "Huh, I wonder if the Velvet Room has cell service," he said idly as he checked his notifications.

The text was from Souji. That wasn't a surprise, since Souji was pretty much the only person who texted Yosuke, but he still felt his heartbeat quicken as he opened it. "Hello," the text read. "I'm throwing a party next weekend, and I wanted to know if you could come."

The phone vibrated again as Yosuke was reading the message. "No pressure, though. I know your job is pretty brutal, and I'd understand if you were busy or too tired or something."

Yosuke barely had to think before he was responding. "nah dude tht snds gr8! id luv 2 come"

He switched over to Twitter and scrolled mindlessly until he got a response.

"That's great! :)"

Yosuke wondered yet again why Souji insisted on texting like a middle-aged accountant. He refused to acknowledge how cute he found the dorky use of emoticons.

He was still firmly not thinking about it when another text came through. "Wait, I haven't told you the time. Are you sure you'll be free?"

"ya, my new job is p chill" It occurred to Yosuke that he was standing in the middle of the room staring at his phone. He went to sit down and stare at his phone like a normal person. Teddie had gone off somewhere while he was distracted, so he wouldn't have to fight to keep him from spying on his conversation.

"Oh, you have a new job?" Souji's next text asked. "I hadn't heard."

Yosuke winced. That was right. He hadn't known how to explain any of the magic stuff, so he hadn't. "its rly new nd i didnt want 2 say nything b4 i was sure" He went back to Twitter again, but didn't manage to read anything, too preoccupied with how Souji might respond.

"No, I understand," he sent after a moment. "It's totally fine. I'm just glad you got away from Junes."

Yosuke leaned back, relieved. Souji was way too good to him. "me 2, trust me"

"Anyway, the party is going to be at my apartment next Friday at 7:00. I'll text you when people start to arrive, in case you forget."

Yosuke refused to admit that he actually liked the idea. He wouldn't have to be that awkward first person to show up. Instead, he sent, "haha, ur so funny"

Souji's response was just another smiley face.

Yosuke rolled over so he was lying on his back, legs hanging over the arm of the couch. It was time to figure out exactly what he'd gotten himself into.

A party would be a chance to hang out with Souji, which was always good. The problem was all the other guests. Souji's friends were nice enough, but Yosuke was pretty sure they only tolerated him for Souji's sake. If he was going to crash their event like this, he needed to do something to justify his presence.

Maybe he could bring something to give them. Souji probably had the evening covered, but Yosuke didn't think anyone could object to him bringing chips or something. That would hopefully be enough to appease his anxiety.

The only question was what exactly to bring. He didn't want to look like he'd rushed out five minutes before the party and gotten the first thing he found at a convenience store.

Whatever. He had almost two weeks to figure it out. He was sure he'd think of something.

* * *

Naturally, he spent the next few days doing absolutely nothing. He'd already made rent, and there wasn't anything he desperately wanted just then, so he didn't need to take any jobs. Instead, he sat around and played video games and practiced the guitar and took Teddie down to the riverbank whenever he got particularly whiny or overexcited.

It wasn't until Yosuke's phone reminded him that the party was only a day away that he remembered he was supposed to be thinking. "Crap, I still don't know what to bring!" He checked his bank account to get a sense of his budget. The answer was not encouraging.

He groaned and went to find Teddie.

The alleged bear in question turned out to be sitting in Yosuke's closet. He'd assembled a collection of hats, capes, and other accessories, purchased with his share of their wages, and was rearranging it when Yosuke opened the door. He jumped. "Ah! Can't a bear have a little privacy?"

"Not when you insist on living in my closet instead of your own room." Yosuke couldn't blame him, given that the closest thing he had to a spare room was a musty linen closet, but it made getting dressed in the morning a hassle. The number of times he'd nearly tripped on some ridiculous piece of clothing was far too high. "Anyway, I need you to get a job for us."

Teddie crossed his arms, sulking. "What if I already had plans for today?"

"First off, you never have plans," Yosuke said. "Have you even left this apartment without me?"

Teddie stuck his nose in the air haughtily, but didn't respond.

Yosuke sighed. "Anyway, please? I really need to go get something for the party tomorrow so I can impress Souji and his friends."

There was something pathetic about having to beg an animal like this, even a magical talking animal. Yosuke's need to be liked had always outweighed his sense of shame, though. It wasn't like Teddie had much room to judge him anyway.

Teddie's ears twitched to attention. "Oh, so it's for Souji? Are you finally going to make a move?"

It wasn't fair that Teddie could use that kind of tone in a mental message. Yosuke shook his head as if that would erase it from his mind. "What? No! This really isn't the time. I just don't want his friends to think of me as a total disappointment."

Teddie let out a single high-pitched note. There was no mental component to it, but Yosuke knew he was being laughed at. "Oh, Yosuke. Yosuke, Yosuke, Yosuke. Lucky for you, my generosity is only matched by my sheer adorableness." His zipper began to glow.

Yosuke rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything. He wasn't going to antagonize Teddie while there was a chance he could change his mind.

An envelope emerged from the light, and Teddie ripped it open. He slapped his paw down on the paper without bothering to read the contents. The two of them were surrounded by light, and then they were gone.

Yosuke kept his eyes firmly closed as they fell through nothing. Even knowing they'd be fine, there was something disorienting about watching the void float past them.

A seat materialized under him. The sensation of falling didn't go away, though, only showed. He realized why when he opened his eyes. The Velvet Room was an elevator today, a wrought silver grate at the back showing that it was constantly descending. Yosuke swallowed and focused on the table in front of him.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room," the attendant said. She sounded far too amused for Yosuke's taste. Being calm all the time must be much easier when you never left your room-dimension.

"Elizabeth!" Teddie said. "You haven't been here in forever!"

"It has been a while, hasn't it?" Elizabeth agreed. "I'm afraid that I have had other priorities, recently."

"Okay, this is great, but I'm kind of in a hurry," Yosuke said. "Do you think you can have your touching reunion some other time?"

Elizabeth's eyes widened unnervingly. "Oh, you must be the fabled Yosuke! You're even more impatient than I'd been told."

"Huh?" Well now Yosuke wanted to get moving for an entirely different reason. He really didn't want to know what else Elizabeth had heard about him.

"Don't worry," Elizabeth said in the least reassuring tone imaginable. "I believe I have the perfect job for you. Please stand by for uniform assignment."

A ray of dazzling blue light enveloped them both. When it faded, Teddie looked exactly the same. Yosuke on the other hand had a new outfit on, one that gave him a headache to look at. The light blue button up and dark blue jeans weren't bad, but the magenta apron over them gave him horrible flashbacks to Junes. "Oh no," he said. "No, I am done with retail. I'm not doing this again."

"Don't be silly," Elizabeth said. "You signed a contract. Or, I suppose, Teddie signed a contract and then bound you to it. It amounts to the same thing."

Wow, she was just a fountain of horrifying realizations. Yosuke didn't have time to dwell on that one, though, because Teddie was already saying, "Let's go!"

"Of course. Right this way." Elizabeth didn't move, but the elevator came to a halt. Yosuke was pulled out the door before he could ask either of them about the terms of this contract.

He was dumped in a field of grass outside what seemed to be a bakery. He couldn't read the sign to be sure, but it had the quintessential glass storefront full of pastries. They weren't the pastries Yosuke was used to, though. Glossy back rectangles of unknown composition sat on trays next to fluffy green rolls and pink cupcakes with smoke trailing off of them instead of frosting.

Yosuke breathed a sigh of relief. He wouldn't be stuck in a department store.

"Wow," Teddie said, "this place looks fancy." He ran up and pressed his face against the window. "Hey, Yosuke! Will you buy me a cookie?"

"We're not here to shop, you know." Yosuke picked Teddie up and carried him into the store, ignoring his cries of indignation.

The inside of the store was equally mundane, with the exception of the figure stocking the shelves. They were vaguely humanoid, but bent over on all fours, each limb extending into thick red and blue tendrils. Their hair rose in a purple mane around the metallic mask of their face. Like Yosuke, they wore a dark pink apron. They hummed as they grabbed the pastries and arranged them on the shelf.

"Umm, excuse me?" Yosuke asked.

The being turned to them. "Oh, hello," they said. Their voice was friendly, but it had a strange echo, as if it had bounced around inside the mask before finally escaping to reach Yosuke's ears. "You must be the temps I asked for. I'm Senden, the owner of this store. The holiday rush is hitting a little earlier than I expected, so I'm glad you're here."

Yosuke nodded. "Yeah, of course." He put on his best customer service smile to hide the way the words "holiday rush" had crushed his spirit into a fine paste. "What do you need?"

Senden drummed their appendages on the floor thoughtfully. "It's a good thing there are two of you. I could use some help in the kitchen, and we need someone out here to run the cash register."

Yosuke opened his mouth to volunteer for any job that didn't involve dealing with customers, but before he could, Teddie jumped out of his arms. "I'd love to spend the day with someone as cute as you."

Yosuke raised an eyebrow at both the lame line and the attempt to use it on someone who looked like an evil telephone pole. Somehow, though, it made Senden laugh. "Well, if you insist, I'd be happy to have you. You flatterer."

"Really?" Yosuke asked. "I mean, look at him. He's all furry. Do you really want him handling the food?"

"Oh, it'll be fine. We have hair nets." Senden straightened. "Here, let me give you a quick rundown of what you'll be doing out here."

Yosuke shot Teddie a glare, then went to follow his boss.

Yosuke was still depressingly familiar with all his duties. It was all stuff he'd done at Junes: ring up purchases, wipe down counters, keep the displays looking good, and generally make sure the customers were happy. He was a little concerned about how he'd keep track of sales without knowing the world's system of currency, but Senden assured him that the cash register would both detect and eliminate thieves. Yosuke almost hoped someone would try stealing, just so he could see what that meant.

"All right, call me if you need anything," Senden said. "Otherwise, I'm going to go show Teddie around the kitchen."

"You got it." Yosuke took a deep breath and flipped the sign that apparently meant they were open. He could handle one day of this.

An hour and a half later, Yosuke was handling things, but only barely. Senden hadn't been joking about the holiday rush. Yosuke had had to turn his brain off and become a retail android to keep himself from freaking out over the sheer number of strange beings he'd had to figure out change for.

He'd just gotten into the rhythm of it when there was a roar from outside. The customers looked at each other nervously. Yosuke, still too deep in customer service mode to stop himself from becoming the idiot in a horror movie, went to check it out.

There was a dragon sitting in front of the bakery. Its gaze was trained on the building, tail lashing like an angry cat, and Yosuke had known magic was real but holy shit this was an actual dragon. He was physically incapable of processing this.

That's what autopilot was for, though, which was how he found himself addressing the dragon in a stern voice. "Ma'am, you're disturbing the other customers. Would you please be a little quieter?"

He managed to keep up a calm facade through years of practice, but he was wincing internally. Everyone always told him his tendency to speak without thinking would get him in trouble. As it turned out, it might actually get him killed. He readied his Persona and hoped for the best.

The dragon didn't react at first, eying Yosuke warily. A rumble deep in its throat was all the warning he got before it shot a gout of fire at him.

Through some miracle of reflexes and preparation, he managed to summon Jiraiya in time to knock the flames away with a gust of wind. "Ma'am," he said again, for lack of anything better. "I understand that you're angry, and I'm sorry. We'd be happy to work with you to find a solution. But if you keep acting like this, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

The dragon reared back. Yosuke reached for Jiraiya again, braced for another attack, but it settled back down a moment later. "Fine," it said, its voice remarkably crisp for such a large creature. "But I demand to speak to your manager."

"Of course," Yosuke said, fighting to keep the irony out of his voice. The fact that customers were the same in every dimension was either hilarious or depressing. He refused to think about it long enough to decide which. "And what would you like me to tell them?"

"I ordered a set of sunbeam scones from you, and no one warned me that they contained sunshine. I nearly fed one to my nephew, who's a vampire. You could have killed him!" The dragon's nostrils flared, and Yosuke half expected it to breathe fire at him again. The fear was a nice distraction from the exasperation he'd otherwise be feeling at that ridiculous story.

Once it was clear that his life wasn't in imminent danger, he held his hands up in a placating gesture. "I'm very sorry to hear that, ma'am. I'll pass that on to my manager right away." He ran back inside, relieved to see that there were no angry customers at the counter. He was free to head straight to the kitchen.

Senden and Teddie both looked up when he came in. The sight of Teddie in the promised hair net with mysterious blue stains on his fur was almost enough to make Yosuke lose his train of thought. He shook his head and forced himself to focus.

When he'd explained the situation, Senden sighed. "This isn't the first time she's done this," they explained. "Don't worry, I'll take care of her. You just keep things calm in here." They walked out of the kitchen like a soldier marching to war.

Yosuke wanted until they were alone, then smirked at Teddie. "Looks like this wasn't as easy as you thought, huh. Did you fall in a tub of blue food coloring?"

Teddie made a noise of distress. "I can't believe you would laugh at a time like this. My beautiful fur, ruined!"

"Relax, you big baby. Can't you just lick it off?"

"Do I look like a cat?" Teddie realized his mistake almost immediately. He pouted. "As I keep telling you, I'm a bear. A bear!"

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Yosuke reached out to shove him, only to think the better of it. He didn't need to get weird alien dye al over his hands. "Anyway, I'm heading back out. Try not to get even more covered in stuff."

Teddie hmphed, projecting the sound mentally in addition to making it. Yosuke laughed and went back to face the mob.

* * *

The rest of the day was thankfully less eventful. Yosuke dealt with the nervous customers while his boss dealt with the dragon, and then things settled back into a routine. By the end of the day, he was exhausted, but he hadn't had any more brushes with death. He'd count that as a victory.

In a minor miracle, no one tried to stay after the shop closed. They were able to lock up with any difficulty.

He was prepared to head off, trusting the Velvet Room to materialize a payment as always, but was stopped by a mass of tentacles on his shoulder. He shuddered involuntarily. They didn't feel bad, cool and smooth and slightly hard, but he hadn't wanted to get that information firsthand.

Senden noticed his discomfort and removed their limb. "Before you go," they said. "I just want to say thank you again. You did a better job than I could have hoped for, even when things got crazy. So I wanted to give you these." They held out a paper bag of the kind Yosuke had been giving customers all day.

Yosuke took it and promptly looked inside. Teddie jumped by his feet, trying to see. "Oh, nice!" Yosuke said, as much for Teddie's benefit as as a genuine reaction. "Cookies!" He assumed, anyway. They were circular and mostly flat, and if they seemed to be glowing at the edges, he was pretty sure that wouldn't kill him.

"Woohoo!" Teddie bounced excitedly.

"I'm glad you like them," Senden said, amused. "And feel free to come back any time. I always enjoy baking for humans."

Could Yosuke even get to other dimensions without accepting a job? He needed to ask Teddie about that later. Right now, though, he just nodded. "See you around!" he said, and stepped through the glowing blue door.

* * *

Yosuke's first concern when they got back was not asphyxiating in a pile of clothing. Elizabeth had helpfully dropped them back in the closet they'd left from. As Yosuke extracted his head from a stray dress, Teddie made a noise of distress. "Oh no, my cape!"

"You never even wear it, why do you care," Yosuke said. He crawled out of the closet and checked his phone. No new messages, of course, but he did see that it was 10:00 at night. He frowned. He'd been hoping they'd been in a dimension where time moved faster.

Well, whatever. He didn't need to go out tonight anyway. He had food in the house for once, and he didn't think anyone would complain about him bringing possibly-magical cookies to the party tomorrow.

He heard the telltale thwap of something hitting Teddie's head and stuck his head back in the closet. "We get anything good?" It didn't really matter at that point, but he'd learned through painful experience that Teddie would steal as much as he thought he could get away with if Yosuke didn't keep an eye on him.

Teddie grumbled in a way that only confirmed Yosuke's suspicions. "It's like you don't trust me!" He held out a wad of cash.

Yosuke glanced at his other paw to make sure both shares were the same size and length. "That's because I don't, you little thief." Satisfied that he wasn't being cheated, Yosuke got back up and stretched. "Anyway, come on, it's time for dinner."

"All right!" Teddie bounded out of the closet, earlier sullenness forgotten. "Can we have ice cream?"

"That's still not a meal," Yosuke said, trying to act like a mature and rational adult who had never eaten ice cream for dinner. What Teddie didn't know couldn't hurt him.

* * *

Yosuke had vaguely hoped that his near-death experience would be enough to get rid of his nerves about the party. If nothing else, maybe it would keep him distracted.

He couldn't say he was surprised when it didn't work. An hour before the party, he was staring into his closet for the third time in the last two days, trying to decide what to wear.

He knew he was overthinking it. Souji wore godawful cat sweaters and polo shirts with the collars popped. He probably wouldn't notice Yosuke's outfit unless Yosuke wore a full-on Halloween costume.

But Souji was also friends with Risette, somehow, and she would definitely pay attention to clothing. Yosuke would really prefer if her first impression of him wasn't "look at this idiot, he can't even dress himself."

The worst part was that he knew it didn't make sense. Once again, she was friends with Souji, who had worn the same outfit as his 50-year-old uncle on more than one occasion. But Souji had so many other good traits, while Yosuke's best quality was that he had interesting friends.

So. Minor wardrobe freakouts. It was one way to kill time before the party, he supposed.

He was taking off his fourth shirt of the day when Teddie whined outside the door. "Yosuke, let me in! I have to pick out my jewelry!"

"I'm already going to look weird bringing my pet to a party, there's no way you're dressing up. I refuse to look like that crazy cat guy." He smiled to himself. "I don't want Souji thinking I'm trying to steal his thing."

"I will graciously ignore you calling me your pet," Teddie said in a tone that wasn't remotely gracious. "Instead, just think about how much everyone is going to love me! You'll be popular by association."

"In what universe do people love tiny screaming bears?" Yosuke asked reflexively. He didn't want to know how unbearable Teddie's ego would get if he didn't keep it in check.

He wasn't totally wrong, though. Teddie would be weird enough to eclipse most of Yosuke's other decisions. Whether that was a good thing was debatable, but it meant Yosuke's clothing wouldn't matter at all.

He closed his eyes and pulled himself together. Ignoring the fact that Teddie had begun reciting a list of his own supposed virtues, he grabbed his favorite yellow sweater and pulled it on. He might as well be comfortable as he made a fool of himself.

He'd just finished getting dressed when he got a text from Souji. "Chie and Yukiko are here; it's safe to come down."

Yosuke exhaled in amusement. Who used semicolons in text messages? What a nerd.

He picked Teddie up and headed for Souji's apartment. He came back a moment later to pick up the cookies he'd left on the kitchen table, and then he left for real.

Between Teddie and the cookies, Yosuke's hands were full, so Teddie was the one to knock on Souji's door.

"Come in!" Souji called.

Yosuke did, setting Teddie down so he could take off his shoes. He followed the sound of Souji's voice to the kitchen. Chie and Yukiko were standing around talking to Souji, who was in the process of checking on something in the oven. All three of them looked up when Yosuke came in. Souji gave him that soft smile that always made Yosuke feel like he'd chugged a mug of hot chocolate, warm and sweet and ever-so-slightly bitter. "You made it," Souji said.

"Yup, and I brought cupcakes." Yosuke held up the bag. "Don't worry, I didn't make them, so they're probably safe to eat."

"Oh, should we have brought something too?" Yukiko asked. "I've been meaning to try this recipe for beef stew…"

Souji's eyebrows shot up. Yosuke was sure he was making a face of his own. "Uh, no, that's fine," Souji said. "You are the guests, after all. I couldn't ask you to do something like that." He watched Yukiko nervously.

Thankfully, Yukiko seemed to buy it. Even Chie looked a little relieved by her side. "Okay," she said. "But if you change your mind, let me know. It's no trouble, really."

Souji nodded, a little too quickly. "But thank you," he said to Yosuke. "You can just leave them on the counter here."

Yosuke was in the process of setting the bag down when he heard the distinctive sound of a jingling zipper. Right, he'd set Teddie down and come straight in. Teddie had probably been through Souji's entire apartment by now. Yosuke could only hope he kept quiet about anything he might have seen.

He bent down to pick Teddie up, trying to act casual about having brought an animal to someone else's home and promptly forgotten about it. "Oh, there you are."

He straightened to find Souji looking very serious. "I hope you understand what you've done, Yosuke."

Yosuke tried very hard not to panic. How had he not seen this coming? What was he thinking? Had he managed to ruin his only friendship? He smiled weakly. "Sorry?"

Souji shook his head. "I just hope you're prepared to be the new host, since I'm going to spend the entire party with your dog."

"He's actually a bear," Yosuke blurted out. He promptly regretted it. That was definitely a pet normal people had. Way to dig yourself deeper in the pit, self. "His name is Teddie," he added, as if that would help.

Souji raised an eyebrow. "Well, he's certainly cute enough to be a teddy bear." He came over to pet Teddie, who basked in the attention. Yosuke tried not to think about how close his face suddenly was to Souji's.

"I didn't know we were allowed to have pets," Chie said. "Yukiko's been wanting to get a dog, but…"

"I mean, doesn't Ken have a dog? It would be pretty hypocritical of him not to allow pets." Yosuke had never actually checked the apartments' pet policy, but he thought that sounded reasonable.

"Yeah, but…" Chie looked at the floor. "I mean, I wouldn't blame him for bending the rules in his situation, and I didn't want to call attention to it if he was." She looked back up and grinned. "But now if he asks, I can blame it on you, so it'll be fine."

"Does this mean we can get a dog after all?" Yukiko asked. "Because I've already thought of some great names." She bounced on the balls of her feet, excited.

"Wait, no, don't put this one on me," Yosuke said. It was a token protest at best. He wasn't going to object to having more dogs around.

There was a knock on the door. Souji stepped back with a look of great reluctance and went to answer it. Yosuke found himself in a room with two people who barely knew he existed, his best topic of conversation already exhausted.

He was spared whatever bullshit would have come out of his own mouth by the sudden appearance of Souji's older sister. "Hey," she said, walking straight to the refrigerator. "Don't mind me, I'm just here for snacks before the room fills up."

True to her word, she rummaged for a bit before pulling out a can of soda. She came over and reached past Yosuke's head to grab a bag of chips out of a cabinet, squinting at him as she did. "Oh, hey, you actually made it," she said. "I don't think I've seen you at one of these before."

Yosuke shrugged. "New job. I have more free time, so here I am."

"Nice." Hamuko glanced down at Teddie. "Fair warning, I'm definitely breaking into your apartment at some point so I can hang out with them."

She looked just determined enough to give Yosuke pause. He was pretty sure she was joking, but he had no doubt that she could break in if she wanted. "Okay?" he said cautiously.

"I'm glad you understand." She slammed the cupboard closed and turned around. "Anyway, I'll see you two at Fuuka's next week?"

"Yeah!" Chie said.

"We're looking forward to it," Yukiko added.

"Nice." And then Hamuko was gone, as abruptly as she'd shown up.

Souji returned a moment later. Rise was at his side, gesturing animatedly, while Naoto and Kanji trailed behind. "So then Kanami told me that she'd been possessed the whole time!" Rise said. She made a show of looking around the kitchen. "Oh, hi, guys. I hope you don't mind that I started the story without you. Don't worry, you didn't miss much."

Naoto shook their head. "Rise, you do this every time. I don't think anyone's fallen for it in months."

Rise sighed dramatically. "And they never will if somebody keeps ruining it for me."

"Anyway," Kanji said, cutting off the bickering before it could start. "How are you guys doing?"

There was a general chorus of greetings and anecdotes. Naoto described about their latest case, and Yukiko talked some about the online courses she was taking. Then Marie showed up, and they went through the whole process all over again.

Yosuke was surprised by how comfortable it was. He knew he was the outsider, that his presence was unnecessary at best, but it was so easy for him to slip into the conversation. He was making jokes and offhand comments without agonizing about them afterwards. He even managed to make the others laugh more often than not.

When he got tired of carrying Teddie, he set him down, warning him not to leave his sight. The others seemed amused, but by some miracle, Teddie had listened. He hadn't even tried talking to anyone. Yosuke was relieved to find that the bear had some sense of restraint, even if he refused to use it when it was just the two of them.

Before Yosuke knew it, the party was winding down, and he hadn't felt the urge to exile himself from society even once. He found himself lingering after everyone else left, wanting to spend that little bit of extra time with Souji.

They were tidying up the kitchen, conversation at a natural lull, when Souji turned to Yosuke. "I'm really glad you were able to make it," he said again. "I think everyone else was happy to have you around, too. We all understood about your job, and I don't want to make you feel like you have to do anything you're uncomfortable with, but if you can start coming to more of these, or even just hanging out more often…"

Yosuke laughed nervously. He didn't think he'd embarrassed himself this time, but he didn't want to push it. The last thing he needed was for everyone to realize how little he had to contribute.

But Souji's expression was caught between caution and hope, and Yosuke couldn't bring himself to say no. "I'll try. I don't know if I can make it to everything, but…" He trailed off as Souji's smile made him lose his train of thought. It was so bright and excited that Yosuke almost felt guilty. There was no way he could deserve a smile like that from someone like Souji.

He managed to smile back convincingly enough that Souji didn't notice his doubts. "Thank you," Souji said instead. "I… you're my best friend. As much as I care about everyone else, it's not the same when you're not here."

Yosuke knew he should say something equally heartfelt in response. It would be so easy, too. Souji meant so much to him, in so many ways. All Yosuke had to do was say a fraction of the things he felt.

Naturally, he did none of that. "Wow," he said. "Thanks." He looked down at the counter, trying to fight the mixture of happiness and shame rising in his chest. He was delighted to hear how much he meant to Souji, but that meant he had even less of an excuse for being such a terrible friend that Souji would thank him for showing up to a party.

By the time he was confident he could speak without his voice betraying him, the moment had passed. He shifted his weight awkwardly. "I should probably get going," he said. "Thanks for having me, and all."

There was a flash of disappointment across Souji's face, but it quickly vanished into his usual neutrality. "Of course," he said. "You're always welcome here."

And didn't that just make Yosuke feel like even more of a jerk. He was beginning to remember why he didn't come to these things. It was easier to pretend he was capable of human interaction when he never had to prove it. "Yeah," he said. "Thanks. Anyway, I'll, uh, see you around."

He barely remembered to grab Teddie before he left. He wished it didn't feel so much like he was running away.

They'd barely made it to the stairwell before Teddie was singing at him. "Oh, that was awful! All those beautiful people and I couldn't talk to any of them!" He posed as dramatically as he could with Yosuke holding him by the middle. "But didn't I do a good job, Yosuke?"

"Great," Yosuke said tiredly.

Teddie seemed to notice Yosuke's low spirits, as he was quiet for the climb back up the stairs. It wasn't until they were inside Yosuke's apartment that he spoke again. "We are going back, right? I don't want to stay alone up here forever."

Yosuke felt another pang of guilt. He hadn't given Teddie many opportunities to interact with anyone but him, now that he thought about it. That was too cruel to inflict on anybody. He dredged up an attempt at positivity. "Of course, man."

Teddie cheered. "Yes! I can't wait!"

Yosuke set him down and went straight to his room, locking the door behind him. A few hours of staring mindlessly at his phone sounded perfect right about then. At least then no one else would have to deal with him for a while.

* * *

Souji needed to get back to cleaning. All the guests were gone, and any minute one of his siblings would want the kitchen. He needed to get to work.

He kept staring at the door, as if that would be enough to make Yosuke come back.

Souji knew he'd pushed his luck. Yosuke had seemed relaxed in a way he so rarely did, and calling attention to that was probably a mistake. Souji had wanted to encourage it, to tell Yosuke that he didn't have to isolate himself. Instead, he'd scared Yosuke off.

It was just frustrating, sometimes. When Yosuke managed to keep from overthinking, he was wonderful to be around, funny and empathetic and warm. Right up until he felt like he'd said the wrong thing. Then he'd keep digging himself deeper, frantic to prove that he was still worthy of your attention, before giving up and isolating himself altogether.

Souji hated watching it. At the same time, he was sick of being on the receiving end of the spiral. He just wanted to have semi-regular conversations with his best friend that didn't end with one of them running away.

It wasn't like Yosuke was doing it intentionally, though. He'd stop in a heartbeat if he was able. So until then, Souji had to be there to support him.

"Is everyone gone, then?" Hamuko asked from behind him.

Souji jumped. He'd been so lost in thought, he hadn't heard her come in.

She laughed. "Wow, I hadn't realized I was sneaking up on you. Sorry about that."

"It's fine," Souji said. He was sure his heart rate would return to normal eventually. "And yeah, I think they've all left."

"Someone should go tell Minato that it's safe for him to leave his cave," Hamuko said, making no effort to do so. She leaned back against the counter.

When she didn't say anything else, Souji went back to cleaning the kitchen, hoping it would look like he'd only been zoning out for a minute. He was just beginning to relax when she spoke up again. "So, you finally dragged Yosuke to one of these, huh."

"He's got a new job," Souji said. He dropped an armload of dishes in the sink, not making eye contact with his sister. "It sounds like he's got more free time now."

"Yeah, he's looking better, too." She grinned. "He doesn't look like you could knock him over by staring at him too hard anymore."

Souji snorted.

He risked looking back at her just in time to see her expression sober. "…You know you don't have to wait for him to figure things out, right?"

He felt his shoulders tense and forcibly relaxed them. "What do you mean?"

"I know this is going to sound hypocritical coming from me," she said, voice wry. "Our whole family really needs to work on it. But the thing is, you aren't obligated to save everyone. You don't even have to force yourself to be there as someone saves themselves. It's not good for anyone."

"I'm not forcing myself to do anything," Souji said. He grabbed a sponge and began wiping down the table, deliberately exerting the same amount of force as always. "I'm happy with my life the way it is."

"Uh-huh," Hamuko said. "Working five different part-time jobs must be so much more fun than going to that fancy cooking school you applied to."

"How–" Souji knew that keeping secrets from any of his siblings was a futile endeavor, but he'd have expected Hamuko to confront him about it as soon as she'd found out.

She didn't answer his half-asked question. She didn't say anything for a long moment, long enough that Souji was a little worried. Then, "You can't sacrifice your own life because you think it's what's best for other people. It only creates more problems, and then – it's not worth it."

A chill ran down Souji's spine. It was so easy to believe his siblings' personas, to think of Hamuko as effortlessly cheerful and Minato as utterly apathetic and Ren as cockily self-assured. Looking at his sister now, though, he could clearly see the lonely child they'd all tried so hard to bury, himself included.

"I understand," he said. His voice came out softer than he'd intended.

Hamuko studied him. Whatever she saw, she approved, and she nodded. "Good." Then, like a switch being flipped, she smiled, and the solemn mood lifted. "You're smart enough to make your own mistakes. I bet they're going to be spectacular."

"Yeah…" Souji said. He carefully didn't think about anything.

Hamuko pushed away from the counter. "Anyway, have fun cleaning!"

"Thanks," Souji said wryly. He started to wash the dishes, trying not to dwell on what Hamuko had told him or on Yosuke's sudden departure. It didn't go well.


End file.
